Court System

Court System

The courts system is a representative of the collective conscience of society to punish individuals who commit crimes or violate the law. Punishing individuals who commit crimes is the reason American courts exist; another reason the court system exists is to dispute claims among private parties. It is important to distinguish between criminal and civil court, because both are different. For example if one is charged with a crime but is later found innocent in criminal court, the individual who was found innocent may be sued by another individual in civil court. Criminal court tries suspected offenders and civil court resolves disputes between private parties. The American court systems were created to protect individuals, and reinforcing social norms, and resolve disputes.

Protecting individuals are the main reasons the court system was created. Freedom and liberties are the ideology of the American lifestyle. The United States Constitution makes it clear on how American liberties are protected whether the individual is an American or immigrant in the United States. To protect the liberties of the people, sometimes the government needs to be in check. For example, the earliest recorded legal code was the Code of Hammurabi. The Hammurabi Code is a strong expression of an “eye for an eye” philosophy. The Hammurabi Code is a strict code that any of the 50 States will not follow because it is too inhumane. Although there is capital punishment in the majority of the 50 States, but none will execute an individual over stealing a piece of candy.

During the reign of King Henry II, legislative law was created but not through legislative but simply sending judges from his central court to the country side to preside over disputes. The judge resolves disputes on what was custom and also what was the social norm at the time. Social norms are the informal rules concerning an individual’s behavior. The judges were in charge of creating and keeping social norm...